Escape Perfection. Create Yourself.: It starts...

Well, it's decided. I'm starting a blog...again. It's been years since I kept one in college, and while I loved it, something changed. It seemed like as soon as I got out of school, life took over...spent a few years working jobs I hated and rearranging my life around people who wouldn't do the same for me, and just generally having nothing of interest to post. But, in June of last year, I started a new job, moved to a new place, and started over. So now, a year later, my new life is falling into place. I have a creative job that I ADORE (even on the days when it frustrates me beyond belief). I rescued an adorable little Chihuahua named Lucy, who keeps me from becoming even more of a Internet and DVR junkie than I already am. I've repaired family relationships, and the friends who have stuck with me through all of this I know are the real deal. All in all, I've finally settled into myself. And while, yeah, there are always days when I could tear my hair out, or stay in bed all day, I'm generally pretty well-adjusted and happy with my life.

That said, I've found that my creative job is sapping all my creative energy. I get home and stare at the TV instead of tinkering around with the piles of pretty scrapbooking and cardmaking things I have so obsessively collected over the years. This is where the blog comes in. Such a responsibility, the blog. It's incredible the sense of guilt I feel for not keeping up with something I've committed to. So here's hoping that guilt will spur me on when creativity alone does not.

And now, my first creative project...invitations and matching thank you cards for my best friend's baby shower that I'm hosting in October. I used Popcorn the Bear unmounted stamps, Faber-Castell watercolor pencils, and October Afternoon paper from the Ducks in a Row line. The thank you card is on half of a gatefold card from Archivers, which fits perfectly into a 4bar envelope.

Front of the Invitation: